Description of ecosystem:
For the description of this wonderful ecosystem let’s start with the abiotic parts of it. The climate on the Roan Plateau is classified as mid-latitude winter- dry. This climate is characterized by strong seasonal variations in temperature and precipitation. Maritime tropical air masses in the summer cause convectional storms, while cold continental polar air masses in the winter bring snow. Typically, the summer and early fall are the wettest months and the winters are cold and dry. Precipitation averages 10.87 in. a year with 39% occurring from July to October. The climate is hot and dry in the summer and the plateau gets lots of sun. Now that we have that lets go on to the physical description of the area.
The Roan Plateau is is an upland area characterized by steep cliffs on the southern and eastern edges and along Parachute Creek. The top of the plateau contains broad and interfluviall ridges and steep drainages that flow to the west into Parachute Creek or south into the Colorado River. The highest elevation on the plateau is 9,286 ft. at Anvil Point. Below the plateau rim the topography slopes to the south and east toward the Colorado River and Government Creek. The lowest elevation on the plateau is 5,060 ft. at the Colorado River near Parachute. Numerous streams are present on top of the Plateau. Now here's the discription of the biological parts of the ecosystem of the Roan Plateau.
The Roan plateau is an extremely biodiverse area of Colorado. It even contains (among other rare plants and animals) the most genetically pure group of cutthroat trout on the planet. It is also home to many animals like elk, mule deer, moose, fish, owls, birds, wolves, lynx, and prairie dogs.
The plants that the Roan Plateau contains include sagebrush, pinyon pine, juniper, broad leaf and narrow leaf cottonwood, and alder. Some of the small shrubbery that is found on the Plateau includes the Debeque Milkvetch, Parachute Penstemon. These are all very important to the ecosystem. The importance of the Roan Plateau
The ecosystem on the Roan Plateau is one of the most biodiverse in Colorado. It contains many rare and genetically pure species such as the cutthroat trout. Since the cutthroat trout on the Roan Plateau have not bred with other types of fish, they are a rare sample of a species whose population is rapidly diminishing. Many other animals and plants call the Roan Plateau their home as well including many keystone species. That means that their extinction would result in widespread harm to many other species. For example, if the sun suddenly burned out, many species of plants would die off because they need the sun to live. Then the herbivores would starve to death, then the primary consumers would be without food and they would die also, and so on. Because of this it is imperative that we take action immediately to save this pristine area.
Threats to the Roan Plateau
The Bureau of Land Management recently made the decision to open most of the public lands on top of the Roan Plateau to oil and gas drilling companies. Initially, it looked like there would be no more than 200 wells drilled in the next 20 years and the Bureau ruled that this would not adversely affect the ecosystem on the Roan Plateau. Unfortunately, recent information suggests that drilling companies plan to drill around 3000 wells in the next 20 years. This would cause irreparable harm to the ecosystem and is an eventuality that must be averted before it is too late.
Conservation Plan
If the oil and gas companies are allowed unrestricted access to the Roan Plateau, they will irreparably damage the unique ecosystem of the Roan Plateau by drilling wells in this pristine environment. In order to save the Roan Plateau and ensure that this rare and diverse ecosystem is preserved it is imperative that we take action immediately. Due to recent data concerning the amount of wells that may be drilled on the Plateau, the BLM must rethink their decision to allow oil and gas companies to drill in that area. Although it is important that the people of the region get cheap energy, drilling on the Roan Plateau is not the way to do that. The natural gas there can be accessed in a variety of different ways. One of these is by drilling into the side of the plateau so that the top will not be disturbed. Oil drilling technology has advanced far enough to allow the oil in the Roan Plateau to be accessed without harming the ecosystem of the region. Even though it will cost the oil companies more to utilize this technology, it is a small price to pay to preserve such an ecologically diverse area.
The Roan Plateau
Description of ecosystem:
For the description of this wonderful ecosystem let’s start with the abiotic parts of it. The climate on the Roan Plateau is classified as mid-latitude winter- dry. This climate is characterized by strong seasonal variations in temperature and precipitation. Maritime tropical air masses in the summer cause convectional storms, while cold continental polar air masses in the winter bring snow. Typically, the summer and early fall are the wettest months and the winters are cold and dry. Precipitation averages 10.87 in. a year with 39% occurring from July to October. The climate is hot and dry in the summer and the plateau gets lots of sun. Now that we have that lets go on to the physical description of the area.
The Roan Plateau is is an upland area characterized by steep cliffs on the southern and eastern edges and along Parachute Creek. The top of the plateau contains broad and interfluviall ridges and steep drainages that flow to the west into Parachute Creek or south into the Colorado River. The highest elevation on the plateau is 9,286 ft. at Anvil Point. Below the plateau rim the topography slopes to the south and east toward the Colorado River and Government Creek. The lowest elevation on the plateau is 5,060 ft. at the Colorado River near Parachute. Numerous streams are present on top of the Plateau. Now here's the discription of the biological parts of the ecosystem of the Roan Plateau.
The Roan plateau is an extremely biodiverse area of Colorado. It even contains (among other rare plants and animals) the most genetically pure group of cutthroat trout on the planet. It is also home to many animals like elk, mule deer, moose, fish, owls, birds, wolves, lynx, and prairie dogs.
The plants that the Roan Plateau contains include sagebrush, pinyon pine, juniper, broad leaf and narrow leaf cottonwood, and alder. Some of the small shrubbery that is found on the Plateau includes the Debeque Milkvetch, Parachute Penstemon. These are all very important to the ecosystem.
The importance of the Roan Plateau
The ecosystem on the Roan Plateau is one of the most biodiverse in Colorado. It contains many rare and genetically pure species such as the cutthroat trout. Since the cutthroat trout on the Roan Plateau have not bred with other types of fish, they are a rare sample of a species whose population is rapidly diminishing. Many other animals and plants call the Roan Plateau their home as well including many keystone species. That means that their extinction would result in widespread harm to many other species. For example, if the sun suddenly burned out, many species of plants would die off because they need the sun to live. Then the herbivores would starve to death, then the primary consumers would be without food and they would die also, and so on. Because of this it is imperative that we take action immediately to save this pristine area.
Threats to the Roan Plateau
The Bureau of Land Management recently made the decision to open most of the public lands on top of the Roan Plateau to oil and gas drilling companies. Initially, it looked like there would be no more than 200 wells drilled in the next 20 years and the Bureau ruled that this would not adversely affect the ecosystem on the Roan Plateau. Unfortunately, recent information suggests that drilling companies plan to drill around 3000 wells in the next 20 years. This would cause irreparable harm to the ecosystem and is an eventuality that must be averted before it is too late.
Conservation Plan
If the oil and gas companies are allowed unrestricted access to the Roan Plateau, they will irreparably damage the unique ecosystem of the Roan Plateau by drilling wells in this pristine environment. In order to save the Roan Plateau and ensure that this rare and diverse ecosystem is preserved it is imperative that we take action immediately. Due to recent data concerning the amount of wells that may be drilled on the Plateau, the BLM must rethink their decision to allow oil and gas companies to drill in that area. Although it is important that the people of the region get cheap energy, drilling on the Roan Plateau is not the way to do that. The natural gas there can be accessed in a variety of different ways. One of these is by drilling into the side of the plateau so that the top will not be disturbed. Oil drilling technology has advanced far enough to allow the oil in the Roan Plateau to be accessed without harming the ecosystem of the region. Even though it will cost the oil companies more to utilize this technology, it is a small price to pay to preserve such an ecologically diverse area.
Attributions:
Original image: 'Moose, Alaska'http://www.flickr.com/photos/85656602@N00/243708157
by: Zdenek Svoboda
Original image: 'Wild Elk'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97553707@N00/3968110848
by: Pravesvuth Uparanukraw
Original image: 'Lynx'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/84567688@N00/2832292527
by: Nicole Marti
Original image: 'lumikko 3'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21404006@N00/91761454
by: Marko Kivelä
Original image: 'Who'll Never Outfox the Fox?!?'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52538087@N00/3467262965
by: John Morris
Original image: 'The Barn Owl (Tyto Alba) - You Talkin' to me? - Flagstaff AZ Arboretum'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8989759@N06/4021917176
by: Axel Foley
Original image: 'Fat Boy' http://www.flickr.com/photos/66727626@N00/295343848 by: James Marvin Phelps
Original image: 'Spinifex Hopping Mouse'http://www.flickr.com/photos/30265340@N00/213522849
by: Brian Yap (葉)
Original image: 'Compound Eyes of a Robber Fly - (Holcocephala fusca)'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7539598@N04/3085177911
by: Thomas Shahan
Original image: 'Wolf'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/83049346@N00/476044637
by: Shawn Kinkade
Original image: 'Acorns and caps on ground'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32454422@N00/1633055250
by: Martin LaBar
Original image: 'New grass'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19564627@N00/2975496521
by:
Original image: 'Prairie Dog'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19346234@N00/992616794
by: B.J. Bumgarner
Original image: 'Peregrin Falcon'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46799225@N00/474167261
by: Don Ankney
Original image: 'Acrobatics by Nature'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/84493444@N00/3331944099
by: William Cho
Original image: 'Patos Reais / Mallards'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/86585370@N00/442798893
by: Isidro Vila Verde
Original image: 'squirrel 01'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20484934@N00/331248393
by: Christopher Angell
Original image: 'Fungi Costa Rica'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24465777@N02/2427510369
by: Photos
Original image: 'Fungi Costa Rica'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24465777@N02/2427510369
by: Photos